Noiseless toothed wheel



Jan. 14, 194k G. lMAl 2,228,828

` NoIsELEss Too'rHED WHEEL Filed Deo, 29, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1i-,lagmmf' fin/en d Jan. 14, 1941. G. :MA1

uoIsELEss Too'rmsn waant.

Filed nec. 29, 195s- 2 shuts-snee'fz A Patented Jan. 14,1%@

UNITED STATES NOISELESS TOOTHED WHEEL Gosuke Imai, Naganoken, Japan,assignor to Katakura. Seishi Boseki Kabushiki Kaisha, Kyobashi,Kyobashiku, Tokyo, Japan Application December 29, 193,8, Serial No.248,311

1 Claim. (Cl. 'J4-445) The presen invention relates to a noiselesstoothed wheel, made of silk fibrous materials, and is characterized bythe following features and constructions:

5 (1) Compressed silk fibre plates are obtained by mixing silk 'fibresolution to broken silk libres laid crosswise and then by compressingthem tor plates and drying; numerous plates thus obtained are piled up;or properly moistened silk libres l are heated and then softenedsericins are compressed, so as to make the fibres adhere togethercompactly, and then they are cooled and dried, thus forming silkcasting. From the compressed plates or silk castings formed as mentionedabove,

15 various wheels such a spur wheels, bevel wheels, worm wheels orpulleys of appropriate shapes are produced.

(2) In' piling up numerous silk compressed plates, several metallicsheets are inserted be- 20 tween the compressed plates at propersituations.

(3) In forming suitably shaped toothed wheels -by piling up numerouscompressed silk ilbre plates or from silk castings, several annularreinforcement pieces are provided, closely surrounding tie 25 rods.

(4) In forming appropriately shaped wheels by piling up numerouscompressed silk fibre plates or from silk castings, metallic reinforcingplates are provided on both sides of the wheels; and in 30 order to bindthem-together closely, tie rods are provided.

(5) Pulleys are formed by piling up numerous compressed silk fibreplates or from silk castings; on both sides of the pulleys thus formed,metallic 35 reinforcing plates with diameters slightly smaller thanthose of the pulleys, are provided; to bind the pulley and platestogether closely, tie rods are provided.

The accompanying drawings show the noiseless Fig. 81s a sectionalelevation showing an example of a wheel formed of silk casting or madeof silk solution. 55 Fig. 9 is a sidev elevation of the same.

The process of making wheels according to the present invention, is asfollows:

Waste silk fibres or broken fibres obtained in the silk thread spinningoperation are treated by roller type carding machine and lapped in thin5 continuous layers, the grain of the fibres being arrangedintercrossed; they are rolled on a drum and while they are being rolled,silk sericin solution obtained by mixing appropriate coagulating agentsto a solution of boiled floss or cocoon hairs, is sprayed over thelayers uniformly by an atomizer provided for the purpose; when they arelapped to a proper thickness, they are cut across and detached from theroller; While they are still wet, they are fully compressed, by ahydraulic press or the like and at the same time heated properly untildesired thickness is obtained; then they are cooled and compressed silkfibre plates are obtained:

,As another process; unrened, natural silk -fibrous materials areimmersed in water or dilute ammonia solution and moistened to suchanextent that sericin contained in silk does not dissolve off; thensmall amount of proteinaceous, coagulating agent like ureatri-oxy-methylen, is added; the solution is placed in appropriatecompressing moulds and heated; thus softened'sericin is compressed andthe fibres adhere together compactly; then they are taken off themoulds, cooled and dried, and silk castings are obtained. Anotherprocess is to put silk fibres reduced to solution into mould,compressed, cooled and dried and y silk castings are obtained.

From the castings produced by any of the Vprocesses.mentioned above,spur wheels l as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 or bevel wheels 2 as shownin Fig. 3, or Worm 3 as shown in Fig, 4, or pulleys 4 as shown in Fig.5, are constructed. Further as shown in Fig. 6, in appropriatesituations of compressed silk fibre plates 5, several metallic sheets 6,'l and 8 are inserted; they are formed intotight, compact bodies whichlessen friction in gearing with other wheels.

As shown in Fig. '7, several reinforcing rings 9 are provided,` closelysurrounding the tie rods 45 for the purpose of reinforcement; or on bothsides of the wheels, metallic reinforcing plates Il are provided; and tounite and assemble these into one body, above mentioned tie rods I0 areprovided; or as shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, prop- 50 erly shaped wheelsare formed of silk fibre blocks I2.

In pulley shown'in Fig. 5, reinforcing plates of diameters slightlysmaller than those of the pulleys, are provided on both sides of thepulley;

this provision is for the purpose of reinforcement of the pulley and atthe same time. the reinforcing plates I3 are prevented from coming intocontact with other pulleys or belts; in this way, noise to be made bydirect contact oi' metals, may be avoided.

Up to the present time, it has been usual to construct toothed wheelswith phenol resin or leather with the object of preventing noise; inboth'cf these cases, it has been quite expensive: in case of usingphenol resin, teeth are liable to break and prevention of noise has beenimperfect; while in case oi using leather, teeth are easily disfigured,accompanying existence of water or oil; in other words, the permanenceand durability/,of wheels are not sufiicient.

Materials madero! silk fibres possess strength equal to that of leatherwheels and are oil proof at the same time; therefore toothed wheelsconstructed by these materials, are anti-irictional oil-prooi,waterproof, and do not generate high heat.

They are therefore suitable as substitutes 0i' leather or metallicwheels and are highlydvantageous on account oi' being noiseless.

Having Ithus described my invention, what I Vclaim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States of America is:

A wheel comprising a plurality of plates arranged side by side andformed of compressed 10 GOSUKE IMAI. 20

